Congress President Sonia Gandhi has approved Palvai Sravanthi as the candidate for the Munugode bye-election in Telangana, the party announced on Friday, September 9. The constituency in Nalgonda district fell vacant after sitting Congress MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy switched allegiance to the BJP, and the bye-poll is touted to be a crucial election that will foreshadow the prospects of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress in the impending 2023 Telangana Assembly elections. Palvai Sravanthi was among the four candidates shortlisted by the Congress party along with Chalammala Krishna Reddy, Palle Ravi and Kailash Netha, as TNM had reported earlier. She is the daughter of Congress veteran Palvai Govardhan Reddy.
The date for the Munugode bye-poll is yet to be announced. Former Munugode MLA Komatireddy Rajagopal Reddy had resigned as the legislator earlier in August, and officially joined the BJP at a public gathering in Munugode in the presence of Union Home Minister Amit Shah. Addressing the gathering, Shah had said, “I want to say this: Elect Reddy in this bye-election and I will guarantee you that KCR’s corrupt government will vanish into thin air.”
Read:
Days after Rajagopal Reddy’s resignation, another senior leader Dasoju Sravan also quit the Congress and later joined the BJP. Sravan alleged that Telangana Congress chief Revanth Reddy was running the party as “private property.” While the BJP is expected to field Rajagopal Reddy, TRS is yet to announce its candidate. Some of the top contenders are former Munugode MLA Kusukuntla Prabhakar Reddy, Karne Prabhakar, Boora Narsaiah Goud, Karnati Vidyasagar, and either Gutha Sukender Reddy or his son Gutha Amith Reddy.
Also read: